Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his remaining royal titles and roles in October, with the former Duke of York also evicted from his Royal Lodge home.
However, despite losing his titles, and his shock arrest on Thursday, the 66-year-old remains eighth-in-line place to the throne, behind King Charles’ sons and their respective children. Although YouGov polling has revealed that over 80 per cent of the British public back removing Andrew from the line of succession, it’s not so easy.
Writing previously for The HELLO! Royal Club, before Andrew was taken into police custody, royal author Robert Jobson spoke of how the process requires more than just a simple act of Parliament. It would need identical pieces of legislation to be passed in the 15 Commonwealth realms where King Charles is still the head of state.
Any move would also be unprecedented, with Robert saying: “There is also no precedent for a royal enforced removal. Edward VIII’s 1936 abdication was after all voluntary and he signed the instrument himself.
“Nobody has ever been forcibly expelled from the British succession. Even Catholic King James II, who fled the country, was declared an abdication by Parliament, even though he never accepted it.”
Speaking on GB News on Friday, Andrew Bowie, the Shadow Scottish Secretary said: “Of course, if he’s [Andrew] found guilty of this, I think Parliament would be well within its rights to act to remove him from the line of succession.
“But let’s remember, he’s not been found guilty of anything just yet – he has yet to be charged with anything. So we have to let the police investigation run its course, and I think we should all act accordingly subsequent to that.”
© Getty ImagesIt’s not just the line of succession that Andrew remains in, but he also remains a Counsellor of State, someone who can act on behalf of the monarch when they are absent from the country or indisposed due to illness, for example.
Robert also wrote about the difficulties of removing Andrew from this role as well, but you will need to sign up to The HELLO! Royal Club to read his thoughts in full.
Recent events
On Thursday, Andrew was arrested at his new Wood Farm home on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. Plain-clothed police officers were seen arriving at the property in the early hours of the morning. Andrew was held in custody for 11 hours, before being released, although he remains under investigation.
© Getty ImagesIn a statement, Thames Valley Police said: “The arrested man has now been released under investigation. We can also confirm that our searches in Norfolk have now concluded. The force said its searches in Berkshire are still under way, and that it would make no further statement at this time.”
An earlier statement from the force read: “As part of the investigation, we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. The man remains in police custody at this time. We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance. Please also remember that this case is now active so care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court.”
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